Last week‚ the caucus voted by 84 to 59 in favour of a motion that De Lille should be relieved of her mayoral chain but it was not clear whether councillors would be permitted to support a motion brought by an opposition party.

DA provincial leader‚ Bonginkosi Madikizela, said in a statement:

“While this is an unprecedented move‚ the ANC correctly in its motion details many‚ but not all‚ of the maladministration that the mayor is responsible for.

“The federal executive has taken this step on the basis that the caucus‚ and the party too‚ has lost faith in her leadership. It is therefore in the best interests of the people of Cape Town and good governance – given the threat that Patricia de Lille poses to both – that we have no choice but to remove her as the mayor.

“This is a demonstration of the fact that we are able to rise above narrow party-political interests and to serve the democratic project in South Africa.

“We have previously appealed to the ANC to support motions of no confidence against President Jacob Zuma due to the very obvious damage he has done to South Africa and his leading role in state capture and corruption.

“It is for similar reasons that the federal executive has authorised the caucus to vote for a motion to remove Patricia de Lille. We reached this point due to the untenable and destructive role played by the mayor.

“Patricia de Lille has played an important role in South Africa’s democratic history. It is truly saddening that her conduct has forced us to act to remove her. However‚ no matter someone’s history or popularity‚ we have a greater obligation to protecting the principles of good governance and ensuring effective delivery to all‚ especially the people of Cape Town.”

Play the game and eventually the game plays you – isn’t that so, de Lille?

UPDATE – the plot thickens, because apparently the ANC have now done a U-Turn. Here’s News24:

…in a statement on Wednesday, the ANC said it now supported its Cape Town caucus’s position to instead withdraw the motion.

“The DA wants to opportunistically hijack the motion of no confidence brought by the ANC against De Lille to resolve their own internal squabbles over resources linked to the City’s water crisis,” it said.

“Whilst Patricia De Lille is the face of a corrupt, dysfunctional municipality, as well as a weak, directionless Democratic Alliance at the City, she is but one cog of a bigger problem that is the DA and its patronage networks within the City.”

And on the Mail & Guardian, it is reported that the DA are set to soldier on without the ANC’s support:

The DA was prepared to back the ANC’s tabling of a motion of no confidence but seemingly will now go at it alone.